The NBA Finals date back to 1947 (when they were known as the Basketball Association of America Finals) and the very 1st NCAA tourney was held in 1939. Olympic basketball competition is even older: it debuted as a demonstration event in 1904 and the men’s version became a medal sport in 1936, with the women finally getting their chance to go for the gold in 1976. The United States has dominated Olympic basketball competition from the start: the men have won 16 gold medals in the 19 tournaments they have participated in during the past 85 years, while the women have won 9 gold medals in the 11 tournaments in which they have competed during the past 45 years. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel continues his coverage by chatting with sportswriter Bob Holt about Alvin Robertson being a great defender and winning a gold medal.
Robertson was born/raised in Ohio and began his college career at Crowder College: what made him choose Arkansas? He was from Barberton, OH. I do not recall how Arkansas placed him there but I know that Crowder is not very far from Fayetteville.
He played for Hall of Fame coach Eddie Sutton: what impact did Sutton have on his career? Eddie was always known for having defensive guards: the Triplets (Sidney Moncrief/Ron Brewer/Marvin Delph) scored a lot but Sidney was also a great defensive player. Alvin and Darrell Walker were an incredible backcourt tandem and epitomized Sutton’s philosophy of generating offense off of their defense. There were some non-conference games where it was like a victory if the opponent could just get the ball over midcourt! There was no shot clock/3-PT line but the Razorbacks still scored a lot of points.
He made the NCAA tourney 3 straight years and lost 3 games by a combined 5 PTS: do you consider his college career a success (due to all of the postseason appearances) or a failure (due to all of the heartbreaking losses) or other? With all due respect you cannot view his college career as a failure: he was a high draft pick and won an Olympic gold medal. Those were some heartbreaking tourney losses to be sure but Alvin was a fabulous player and received a lot of accolades for it.
In the summer of 1984 he was drafted 7th overall by San Antonio (2 spots behind Charles Barkley): did he see that as a validation of his college career, or the realization of a lifelong dream of reaching the NBA, or other? I think it meant a lot to him. I do not think that he grew up with a lot so getting drafted was a way out of a tough life. He played hard and it was a big motivation to get to the NBA and make a good life for himself.
A couple of months later as a member of team USA he won an Olympic gold medal: what did it mean to him to represent his country, and what did it mean to him to win a gold medal? It meant a lot, especially having his college teammate Joe Kleine on the Olympic team:
Bobby Knight was the coach and another player on the team was Michael Jordan. Only 1 other school had multiple players on the Olympic team (North Carolina’s duo of Jordan/Sam Perkins) so it was a big deal for Arkansas. Alvin earned his spot because he was such a relentless defender.
On February 18, 1986, he became the only guard to ever record a quadruple-double with 20 PTS/11 REB/10 AST/10 STL in a win over Phoenix: how was he able to balance all of the different aspects of his game? He could just do it all. He was 6’4” and really athletic. Most other guys got their quadruple-doubles with BLK but Alvin was the only 1 to do it with STL. He did not just get loose balls that bounced his way: he would steal the ball directly out of his opponents’ hands. He was a great rebounder and solid passer who could do a lot of things really well.
He made the All-Star Game 4 times from 1986-1991: what did it mean to him to receive such outstanding honors? I assume it meant a lot to him because he had a lot of pride in his game and would just go out and play hard. It was pretty much an American game back then so being an All-Star meant that he was 1 of the best players in the world.
He led the league in SPG 3 times from 1986-1991, was named to the All-Defensive team 6 times, and his 2.7 career SPG remains #1 in NBA history: where does he rank among the best defenders in the history of the sport? Those numbers speak for themselves. He had quick hands to steal the ball and quick feet to stay in front of people. He was also very intimidating: Reggie Miller was a famous trash-talker who could also back it up…but his teammates once told him to not say anything to Alvin! Nobody wants to get embarrassed by having someone steal the ball from them and then go down the court and dunk it. He took such pride in playing defense: he built his game off of that mentality. Walker once said that there were some NBA players who were simply afraid of Alvin.
His son Tyrell Johnson played in the NFL, his son Elgin Cook plays pro basketball overseas, and his brother Ken played college basketball: who is the best athlete in the family? I knew about Elgin but did not know about the others. For my money it is Alvin!
He had some back injuries late in his career, followed by several off-court legal problems since retiring: when people look back on his career, how do you think that he should be remembered the most? It is kind of a complicated legacy. I wrote a story last year about his on-court success and off-court issues while trying to control his anger and being falsely accused of some things. I guess I did a good job because there were people from both sides of the aisle emailing me to complain! I am sure that the back injuries affected him: Walker said that if Alvin had remained healthy then he could have become a Hall of Fame player. He was great at both Arkansas and in the NBA but there is still a lot of gray area. I do not think that he is a horrible person: he just got involved with some people that he would have been better off not being involved with.